Just a Few More Minutes
by SneakerTime
Summary: Hotch goes into a warehouse to find a little girl, but the team witnesses it blow up. Can they save him in time, or is he even alive to still be saved? Story better than summary. NO SLASH Hotch/Rossi Father/Son
1. Chapter 1

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**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds**

**Just a Few More Minutes**

Rossi's POV

Just a few more minutes. That's all that was needed. Morgan just had to stall the Unsub for a few more minutes. They were in Houston, Texas trying to catch a man who had abducted eleven little girls, between the ages of five and nine, and had killed seven of them. The others were still missing, but they had managed to track the Unsub to a group of abandoned warehouses. Right now Jonathon Chanellor, aka the Unsub, was currently surrounded by about seven cops and the rest of the team, minus Hotch. A little girl, about six years old, matching one of his victim's descriptions was seen being dragged inside one of the warehouses and Hotch insisted on going in to try and find her. That was before they found the Unsub and realized that he had a remote detonator in his hands.

"Hotch get out of there now, the whole place might blow." Rossi whispered into the microphone.

"No. I can hear her crying, and I will _not_ leave her down here. Just give me a few more minutes." Hotch said back stubbornly.

Rossi wanted nothing more than to pull the trigger on the gun in his hand and kill the piece of scum standing before him, but if he did then they might never find the other missing girls. Suddenly Jonathon looked at his watch and announced loudly, "I love hide and seek, especially with higher stakes." And before anyone could comprehend his words, he pressed the small red button on the remote in his hands. A large blast came from one of the warehouses. But not just any old, run down warehouse, but the one that Hotch was in. Rossi stumbled backwards and almost fell at the force of the blast. As he caught his balance again he noticed that Morgan had already tackled the Unsub.

"What the hell do you think is so funny?!" Morgan yelled at him as he pinned him to the ground.

"I was counting the whole time, now it's time for you to find them, you know, if they survived the blast." He said with a sickening laugh.

As Rossi heard this he turned to stare at the burning building, feeling is heart shatter as he watched the roof collapse. "Hotch!" Rossi screamed into the mic that was attached to his wrist. "Aaron! Aaron are you there?!" Rossi yelled again as he ran towards the building. By the time he reached it, the firefighters had already pulled up and were trying to put the fire out. He wanted to run straight into the building and search every square inch, but he knew that was impossible. So instead he fell to his knees, and waited for something to happen.

He could feel the rest of the team come up behind him, but it didn't matter. Not when his protégé, his best friend, the man who he had come to look at as a son, was trapped inside a burning building. JJ had called Garcia to let her know what had happened, and now the hard part. Waiting. After about seven minutes, which felt like an eternity, the fire was put out and the search began. Morgan started pacing wildly because if he didn't move, he knew that he would go insane. Reid and JJ were sitting up against one of the police cars, both trying to keep their emotions composed. Prentiss stood off to the side, trying to compartmentalize everything, just like she always did. While Rossi was in the exact same position, kneeling on the ground in front of the smoldering warehouse.

"What is taking so long?" JJ asked finally, her voice cracking with emotion.

"He's still alive, I can feel it." Rossi said determinedly. Just then they heard a moan over their earpieces. "Aaron?!" Rossi asked suddenly standing, hope flooding his every fiber.

"Dave…"

"Aaron where are you? Are you ok? Can you get out?" Everyone asked at the same time.

"In… the basement." He gasped.

"Aaron we already knew that, can you be more specific?" Rossi tried, tears spilling down his cheeks.

"Can't… remember. Jamie are you ok?" Hotch asked.

"Jamie, what you mean his victim? Is she down there with you?" Morgan asked.

"Jamie are you ok?" Hotch asked again weakly.

"Yeah." A little voice said back quietly.

"Jamie, can you tell us where you are?" JJ asked calmly, even though her hands were shaking.

"I don't know." Jamie responded as she started crying. "I just wanna go home." She sobbed.

"Jamie… remember what I told you?" Hotch asked as he started coughing.

"That you were going to make sure I got to go home." She said in-between sobs.

"That's exactly right. Now you just need to be patient… because they will find us." Hotch told her in a calm voice.

"We can't find them, or any way to get down into the basement." The fire chief said walking towards the group of profilers.

"He's down there and still alive, with a little girl. You keep looking!" Morgan said angrily as the fire chief started walking away.

"Aaron, can you get out of there?" Rossi asked, panic running through his veins that they might not be able to find him in time.

"Too… heavy." Hotch stuttered as he continued coughing.

"Hotch stop trying to talk so much, you need to save your energy. Jamie can you tell us what he means by that?" Reid asked.

"There's something big and heavy across his chest, I don't think it can be moved. Are you gonna die?!" She screamed, starting to cry again.

"Jamie… it's ok. I don't plan on going anywhere… anytime soon." Hotch told her firmly. But the meaning to his words was lost once he started coughing, hard.

"Keep talking… please." Hotch begged.

"Jamie, why don't you tell us what happened?" JJ asked calmly.

But Jamie just started to cry even harder.

"Ssh, ssh. It's ok." Hotch soothed. "Just give me your hand… and whenever you get scared… you squeeze it real tight… and remember that I'm right here. I won't leave you." He said starting to cough again, this time it sounded wet.

"Aaron are you ok?" Rossi asked frightened, it sounded like he was coughing blood.

"Keep… talking." He begged again.

So for about thirteen minutes, the team told happy, light, pointless stories. All the while listening to Hotch's coughs become harsher and more frequent.

"Tell Jack… I love him. I-I want… all of you to take care… of him." Hotch said, struggling to talk.

"Aaron, don't talk that way…" Rossi told him angrily, the anger coming from fear.

"Jamie… you're going… to be ok. You get to go out… and live your life. Be happy." He told her trying to smile.

"Aaron don't you dare stop fighting!" Rossi shouted as panic started to flow through his voice.

"Dave… I have been fighting… all my life… and I'm tired of fighting." He said slowly, his breathing becoming slow and shallow. Soon they heard no breath at all, just crying from a little girl.

"Aaron?" Rossi asked quietly, afraid that there would be no reply. "Aaron can you hear me?"

Then a loud crash could be heard, and rescue workers shouting for help. Then the mic went dead. Causing the team to rush to the area that had the most rescuers. After about three minutes they saw Hotch being carried outside, his body limp as it was strapped onto a gurney in an ambulance. With a little girl being put into the one next to it, both driving off at top speeds. The thing was Hotch had blood dripping from his mouth, and his clothes were soaked in blood as well.

Rossi turned away after the ambulances left. He had seen the look in Hotch's eyes, there wasn't one. He had the all too familiar dead stare.


	2. Chapter 2: A Time for Healing

**I could never kill Hotch! I think it would kill me ;) Thank you for reading and reviewing my story!**

**Disclaimer: Unfortunately I still don't own Criminal Minds :( Oh well, it's probably for the best! :)**

_Rossi turned away after the ambulances left. He had seen the look in Hotch's eyes, there wasn't one. He had the all too familiar dead stare. _

So he turned to look at what was left of the team with hallow eyes of his own. Morgan was the one who stepped up and took control of the situation, getting everyone back to the SUV, he started driving to the hospital. After all he did seem like the most stable of the group, even though that wasn't very comforting considering the shape they were in.

Once arriving at the hospital they were forced to sit and wait. Again. Garcia arrived a few hours into the wait, having caught the earliest flight out she could. After another four hours and multiple coffee runs later, a doctor finally came out of the double doors leading into the surgery rooms. "What happened?" Rossi asked, taking the lead in the questioning.

"He is a very lucky man, or unlucky. Just depends on how you look at it." The doctor said trying to smile.

"So he's alive?" JJ asked, shaking.

"Yes he is alive."

"Oh thank God." Rossi said letting out a breath of relief he didn't even know he was holding. The team's hearts and lungs started working again after this news. He was alive!

"We got to him just in time." The doctor started. "Unfortunately he sustained a lot of injuries. The explosion reopened the tear in his right eardrum causing it to bleed again, he sustained second degree burns on his left arm and leg and also broke his right arm, and sprained his ankle. Now his other injuries are the ones that cause the most concern. The blast caused one of the support beams to collapse on his upper body, crushing and breaking almost all of his ribs, forcing them to puncture his lungs multiple times. Debris also landed on his abdomen, giving him internal bleeding and severe bruising. He bled out quite a bit, we actually had to give him several blood transfusions. Not to mention the concussion he sustained from the fall, causing his brain to swell. We had to put him in a medically induced coma to help his body recover."

"What do you mean a coma?" Garcia gasped.

"Well," the doctor said trying to explain this peculiar situation. "His body was completely overloaded with the stress of trying to heal his wounds, which wasn't helping the swelling. So we put him in a coma to try and make the swelling go down."

"But he will wake up, right?" Prentiss asked cautiously.

"In theory, yes. But all brain injuries are different, and if the swelling doesn't go down, there isn't much more we would be able to do. I'm sorry, I know that isn't the news you wanted to hear. But truthfully, I've never seen anyone suffer this much trauma and still be alive. He is a very strong man."

"You have no idea." Reid said quietly.

"When can we go in and see him?" Rossi asked.

"He's in ICU right now, but we should be moving him to a normal room by tomorrow. Until then, no one is allowed in his room. I'll give you any updates on his recovery as soon as I'm certain." And with that the doctor was gone.

"Now listen and listen well." Rossi started. "I know that there isn't a single person here who doesn't want to be by Aaron's side. Believe me, I get that. But if he were here, he would want us focusing on finding those other girls; not him. JJ, you talk to Jamie and try to get her to open up. Garcia, you can stay here if you want; but you need to be reachable at all times and have access to a computer. Reid, we need you to keep working on the geographical profile. The rest of us will take turns trying to break Jonathan Chanellor like a twig." Rossi said with a determined look in his eyes.

JJ's POV

JJ walked through the door as quietly as she could, but her presence was still noticed. Jamie's father came towards her with an extended hand.

"My name is Gary Tomlinson, I'm Jamie's father. This is my wife, Kristy. Are you from the FBI?" he asked.

"Yes my name is Jennifer Jareau, you can call me JJ. I was a part of the team that was called to help find your daughter. I was hoping I could talk to her?" JJ asked in her calm, sympathetic voice.

"I'm fine with that, but Jamie hasn't said a word since she got here. The rescuers said she didn't say a word when they found her, and she hasn't even looked at us." He said turning towards his daughter and wife who were both sitting on the hospital bed. "She just keeps her head down."

"Would you mind if I talk to her alone?" JJ asked.

"No, by all means. My wife and I will be getting coffee in the cafeteria if you need anything." And with that the parents were gone, leaving JJ and Jamie all alone.

"Hi Jamie, my name is JJ. I want to ask you some questions, is that ok?" No response. "I am a friend of Hotch's." Still nothing. "I know Aaron." That got Jamie to look up. "He's still alive." And that got her to start crying. JJ walked over and wrapped his arms her, and let her cry into her shoulder.

"Can I see him?" she asked quietly.

"You can't right now…" But JJ was cut off by the look in her eyes. It was so pleading, she couldn't say no.

"Alright. But you can't tell anyone. Come on, let's go see him." JJ said as she led Jamie over to the door. They walked quietly through the halls, only being stopped once by a passing nurse. But once the nurse saw the look in Jamie's eyes, she gave them directions to his room.

"Now don't be scared of all the machines and tubes, they're helping him. But when you talk to him, he's not gonna wake up or move because the doctors gave him medicine that would make him sleep. But he's going to be okay."

The little girl just looked straight ahead and gave a slight nod. When they walked into the room, JJ had to gasp as she looked at her friend lying pale and lifeless on the hospital bed.

Jamie's POV

As they walked into the room Jamie could hear JJ gasp, but she kept walking in. JJ hadn't seen the condition he was in while they were down there. She hadn't seen how the support beam had crushed his upper body. She hadn't seen how he had protected her, and put his own life in danger, to save her. She had sprained her wrist and gotten a few cuts and bruises, but he looked dead as he lay still on the hospital bed. Instead of saying anything –because she honestly didn't know what to say– she pulled up a chair by his side and held his hand. He had been there for her, and now she was going to be there for him. They wouldn't be able to drag her from his side now.

JJ's POV

She watched as Jamie just walked forward and sat by his bedside. His hand engulfing hers as she held on. She wanted to say something, maybe take Jamie back to her own hospital room. But then she saw her lay her head down on the hospital bed and noticed the way her jaw was set in determination; and JJ knew she would have to try and drag her away from him now. Something that would do more harm than good. So she called the nurses station and asked them to have the Tomlinson's meet her outside of Hotch's room. As she saw them approach she walked outside to make sure they didn't wake the now sleeping little girl.

"Why are we here? Where's Jamie?" Kristy asked worried.

"While I was talking to her, she asked to come and see my boss and I agreed." JJ explained.

"But why would she want to come and see him? I don't understand." Gary said puzzled.

"You mean you don't know?" JJ asked stunned that no one had told them what had happened.

"Don't know what? What happened?" the parents asked at the same time.

"When we found the man who did this, there was a witness putting Jamie inside of a warehouse. My boss, Agent Aaron Hotchner, insisted on going in to find her while the rest of us went to find the Unsub. When we did finally catch him, he had a remote detonator in his hands and after a while he detonated a bomb that was inside the warehouse where Jamie was. The building burst into flames and collapsed, trapping Agent Hotchner and Jamie inside. Agent Hotchner was seriously injured and when the rescuers were finally able to extract both of them, he wasn't breathing. I'm assuming that Jamie thought he was dead and when I told her he was alive, she started crying. She really wanted to come and see him, and I figured it couldn't do either of them any harm." JJ explained.

"So that man saved our daughters life?" Kristy asked crying.

"Yes he did. He's an amazing, stubborn, man." JJ told them, tears sliding out of her own eyes.

Without another word, the Tomlinson's walked inside and pulled up two chairs behind their daughter and started to wait quietly.


End file.
